Embalming is the art and science of temporarily preserving the body of a deceased person by treating them with chemicals to delay decomposition. Generally, one of the primary goals of modern embalming is to delay decomposition to allow for suitable presentation of the deceased at public display, such as funerals and other religious practices or for shipment of the remains to a distant place for disposition. Generally, the embalming process may involve up to four distinct parts: (i) arterial embalming; (ii) cavity embalming; (iii) hypodermic embalming; and (iv) surface embalming.
In more detail, arterial embalming involves the injection of embalming chemicals into the blood vessels, usually via the right common carotid artery. Blood and interstitial fluids are displaced by this injection and are expelled from the right jugular vein and often referred to as drainage. The embalming solution is injected with a centrifugal pump. Turning to cavity embalming, it refers to the replacement of internal fluids inside body cavities with embalming chemicals (such as formaldehyde) via the use of an aspirator and trocar. Hypodermic embalming is a supplemental method relating to the injection of embalming chemicals into the tissues with a hypodermic needle and syringe, which is sometimes used to treat area where arterial fluid has not been successfully distributed during the main arterial injection. Finally, surface embalming is another supplemental method wherein embalming chemicals are used to preserve and restore areas directly on the deceased skin's surface and other superficial areas.
Embalming chemicals are a variety of preservatives, sanitizers, disinfectant agents and additives to delay decomposition and restore a natural appearance for viewing a body after death. A mixture of these chemicals is known as the embalming fluid, which may consist of formaldehyde, ethanol, phenol, methanol, wetting agents and other solvents. Formaldehyde and ethanol are typically the chemicals that are present in the embalming fluid in the greatest quantities. As embalming operations involve discharging blood, bodily fluids, biological wastes containing harmful bacteria and microorganisms and various preservation chemicals, they present a problem for the proper treatment of sanitary wastewater.
Typically, funeral homes dispose of embalming fluids and hazardous biomedical wastes, such as blood, bodily fluids and the like into the municipal sanitary sewer system or an on-site sewage treatment and disposal system, using the common floor drains in the preparation room, such as a drain connected to an embalming table. As a result, this type of disposal method of embalming fluids and hazardous biomedical wastes from an embalming procedure poses a potentially severe and direct risk of hazardous contamination of ground water and soil, which can ultimately affect human health and the environment. While the wastewater is treated prior to being sent out for reuse, which is designed to completely sanitize the water of diseases and pathogens, it is not always effective. Indeed, embalming chemicals and water treatment does not completely purify this water of all organisms that can cause infectious and potentially fatal diseases. Pathogens and chemicals present in the hazardous waste can leech out and contaminate ground water and surface water, especially during boil water advisories due to line breaks.
Specifically, prions are pathogens that are not killed by the common methods of disinfection and sterilization. Prions cause the destruction of neural cells, which leaves tiny holes in the brain tissue. These pathogens cause a family of diseases known as the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), including “Mad Cow Disease,” classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and variant CJD (vCJD). CJD and vCJD are degenerative, invariably fatal brain disorders. TSEs have no cure, vaccine or effective treatment. The National Center for Infectious Diseases consider it an “emerging infectious disease.”
The current waste treatment process contributes to the increase of antibiotic-resistance bacteria because not all of the bacterial genes that can cause antibiotic resistance are killed. They are then released to lakes and rivers and can wind up into the drinking water supply. The genetically mutated bacteria cannot be killed by antibiotic drug treatments, which allows for diseases that were once controlled by antibiotics to re-emerge as serious threats to the health of the public.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system for reducing the risk of disease from contaminated waters caused by the current method of hazardous waste disposal for the typical embalming process. Specifically, the system should reduce the risks and occurrences associated with antibiotic-resistant infections and chronic wasting diseases by destroying prions and preventing antibiotic-resistant bacteria from flourishing by storing the hazardous materials in a low temperature environment, which inhibits bacterial multiplication. Furthermore, the system should use an encapsulate to absorb hazardous wastes to reduce the risk of spill contaminations during disposal of the hazardous waste from the embalming process.